Overlook Medical Center Lunch – Not Scary at All

Not All Hospitals Are The Same

I needed something to take my mind off today, sitting in a hospital waiting for my wife to come out of surgery. After a light breakfast this morning consisting of breakfast meats and a giant coffee (no photos of that, because I was a nervous wreck and could barely form proper sentences at that point of the morning), I realized something, this Hospital’s food wasn’t so bad.

I say that, because, most places like this have all pre-packaged food that is generally gross to eat or looks like it has been sitting around there for a while. However, as I mentioned, I had a spread of breakfast meats. A full on Spread! I had fresh sausage links that were flavorful and not even greasy, fresh taylor ham that was slightly fried, fresh crispy bacon with just enough chewy fat left on it that it satisfied my bacon criteria, and most importantly, it was relatively cheap to fill my plate up with the goods. (13 bucks for meats, an egg omelette, large coffee, and a large water, about the same I would pay for a hearty breakfast at a Diner)

It’s not that bad actually

The Lunch

My Ketosis, however, will not survive this lunch. And I’m ok with that, when in times of stress and duress, I eat. More importantly, I eat what comforts me. And this, this was comforting.

I have to tip my hat off to the short order cook who is slaving on the grill back there, because he or she is probably not making enough money for the amount of love and work that they are putting in on the food being made.

Was it made from scratch? Not at all. But it was handled and prepared with care. Let’s dive in shall we?

I spent roughly the same for Lunch, around 13 dollars, and with it I had a plethora to choose from, burgers, fries, sweet potato fries, all the things out there to bring me comfort and against my Keto diet, but I’m ok with it, I wanted the comfort of carbs and sugar for lunch today.

I ended up with a Cheese Burger with Provolone, Onion Rings, Chicken Tenders, A Diet Coke (gotta watch my figure), and a Choco Taco. To be honest, the Diet Coke was just because regular coke is too sweet to me, so it was just a taste preference.

Let’s start with the side dish. Onion Rings. It’s easy to screw up onion rings, even pre-made ones. These did not disappoint, as they were cooked perfectly, the onion stayed in tact inside, there was hardly any grease, and a ton of crunch on the outside and a tender cooked onion on the inside.

Delicious, crispy, golden, onion rings.

Next the Chicken Tenders, a staple of 5 year olds everywhere, but I really felt like having everything breaded today. I was surprised to find the chicken was juicy and tender, and well seasoned, the coating was crunchy and flavorful, I was surprised, to say the least. I didn’t think pre-made tenders could taste like this. Succulent and delicious.

Chicken Tenders are another staple of the premade easy food world, these were stupidly good.

“Main Course”

This burger, I felt I was going to be set up for failure and disappointment. I was actually surprised, though cooked well done (I mean it’s a preformed patty and this is a hospital, so I don’t see them giving me a medium rare burger in this sort of environment), it was so well seasoned I felt like I was eating a burger I made at home that I accidentally cooked a little too long.

BURGERS ARE DELICIOUS WHEN YOU PUT ONION RINGS ON THEM… sorry for yelling.

I was tasted salt, pepper, paprika, garlic and other spices! Where was the bland food that Hospitals were known for?! I was even given the choice of cheese and I chose provolone because I wanted a little more flavor, I even added a few onion rings to top it off. This burger didn’t really need the “attachments”.

Who would have guessed so much care went into a pre-made patty. Thanks Overlook

This was a 7/10 burger, in a hospital!?

Finishing The Meal

I took a look at my Choco Taco and remembered all the disappointment of my life with all the times I’ve opened the packaging to see a messy pike of broken shell and messy re-frozen from melted ice cream.

Something so simple can be so rewarding

Even this didn’t disappoint. This was the perfect end to my sugary, carb filled comfort lunch. It made me happy, it filled me up, it caused my slight intestinal discomfort.

This was perfectly together and delicious

But it was worth it.

Oh… diet coke was ok too.

Bonus

There was a second Cafe on the main floor of this Hospital. If you want something made to order, you come here, and you will get a delicious meal.

This Buffalo Chicken and Roasted Red Pepper Panini was something I was NOT expecting. Great job Overlook!